E.J. Manuel passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning 39-yard score to Rashad Greene with 40 seconds left, and No. 8 Florida State stayed in the Atlantic Coast Conference title chased by defeating Virginia Tech 28-22 last night in Blacksburg, Va.

Greene finished with 125 yards and two touchdowns for Florida State (9-1, 6-1), which inched closer to earning its first Atlantic Division title since 2005. A victory next week at Maryland will assure the Seminoles a spot in the ACC championship game and a shot at their first Bowl Championship Series game in seven years.

Virginia Tech (4-6, 2-4) trailed 20-17 midway through the fourth quarter when Devonta Freeman got caught in his end zone and desperately tossed the ball forward, which resulted in an illegal-forward pass and a safety. That cut the Seminoles’ lead to 20-19 with just under seven minutes left. J.C. Coleman returned the ensuing punt 34 yards to Virginia Tech’s 44-yard line and Cody Journell’s second field goal gave the Hokies a 22-20 lead with 2:19 left.

But Manuel executed a textbook two-minute drill. He capped the 68-yard drive by hitting Greene on a slant, and the sophomore raced across the field untouched for a touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 28-22, and Tyler Hunter’s interception of Logan Thomas at the Seminoles’ 33 sealed the victory.

USC fires manager over deflated footballs

Southern California’s unimpressive season reached a new, weird low late on Wednesday night when the school announced that a student manager had been dismissed for underinflating game balls before the No. 21 Trojans’ loss to No. 2 Oregon last weekend, earning a fine and a reprimand for the school from the Pac-12.

Coach Lane Kiffin then spent yesterday explaining why the Trojans’ latest brush with questionable tactics was an isolated misdeed by an overeager student.

“I was just disappointed because it was just a distraction,” Kiffin said. “It was a distraction that nobody knew about here, that had no effect on the game. If anything, it had a negative effect to be throwing two different types of balls for a quarterback. I was just disappointed because it was a distraction that we didn’t need.”

Notable

Taylor, 62, leaves with two games remaining in his fifth season at the school. Defensive coordinator Earl Holmes will be the acting head coach for Saturday’s game against North Carolina Central and the season finale in Orlando on Nov. 17 against league-leading Bethune-Cookman.

Florida A&M (3-6, 3-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) will play Ohio State next season on Sept. 21 at Ohio Stadium.

• West Virginia freshman receiver Travares Copeland has left the team for personal reasons.

Copeland started one game and had 10 catches for 55 yards in three games.